Softball on the Road at Longwood and No. 19 James Madison

Game Notes
Live Stream: Longwood | James Madison
Marshall Radio Online Stream

FARMVILLE, Va. – The Marshall softball team is back on the road for five-straight games, beginning at the Longwood Lancers on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Herd then plays at No. 19 James Madison on Wednesday at 4 p.m., before heading down to Hattiesburg for a three-game series at Southern Miss (March 30-31).

The Thundering Herd is 21-9 overall.

Fans can tune in to both games on 88.1 WMUL-FM with audio streamed online at www.marshall.edu/wmul through one of the Listen Live links. The game against Longwood will be live streamed on ESPN+ and the contest at JMU will be live streamed through the JMU Dukes Facebook Page.

Last Time Out: vs. UTSA - Marshall won series 2-1
Marshall was back in Conference USA action at home and took the series from the UTSA Roadrunners, 2-1. The Herd held on for two shutout victories on Saturday, 5-0 and 7-0, but struggled in the Sunday finale losing 4-2.

In game one, senior pitcher Abigail Tolbert was in command in the circle as she was just two outs away in the seventh from earning her first career no-hitter. The Roadrunners finally got a base hit, but they could not muster anything else. Tolbert struck out seven in earning her career-best 13th win and fourth shutout of the season. Marshall received its runs from two home runs and an RBI double. Juniors Sierra Huerta and Blakely Burch both hit two-run homers and senior Briana Daiss drove in with a double to left.

The Herd smacked its 31st home run of the year in game two as Daiss went deep to left in the third to give Marshall a 6-0 lead. For Daiss it was her fourth of the year and 24th of her career, eighth all-time in program history. Senior Hannah Giammarino was 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two stolen bases in the game two win. Sophomore Armani Brown also recorded two hits including an RBI double. Junior pitcher Kailee Williamson went the distance allowing seven hits, all singles, struck out a career-high nine batters and received some great play from her defense to earn her seventh win of the year and her fourth shutout.

Marshall struggled offensively in game three recording just one hit from sophomore Aly Harrell. The Herd had a chance in the seventh after a UTSA error and back-to-back walks to load the bases. Daiss ended the shutout scoring on a sacrifice fly by Brown. Burch later scored on a wild pitch and the Herd had senior Hayden Ellis at third but could not find the timely hit. Tolbert pitched the complete game and struck out a career-high nine batters in the loss.

The Opponents
Longwood: Two all-time meetings, Marshall leads 2-0, last meeting DH on April 22, 2012 in Huntington
The Lancers comes in with a 17-11 overall record and coming off a sweep of USC Upstate, including a 2-1 win in 15 innings on Sunday. The walk-off home run from Kaylynn Batten landed as No. 9 on the SC Top 10. Longwood is 7-3 when playing at home this season. As a team, the Lancers are hitting .258 and scored 125 runs. Graduate transfer Chelsea Whitcomb (Virginia Tech) leads with a .338 average, has 26 hits and 17 stolen bases. Batten leads with four homers and is tied for the team lead with 20 RBI. In the circle, Longwood sports a 3.25 staff ERA and opponents are hitting .238. Sydney Backstrom has the most innings (80.2) and is second with a 3.82 ERA and an overall record of 7-6 with 70 strikeouts. Sydney Gay leads with a 2.47 ERA, a 7-5 record and 45 strikeouts in 76.2 innings.

James Madison: Three all-time meetings, Marshall leads 3-0, last meeting 7-0 MU win April 18, 2018
The Dukes enter the week ranked 19th in the country (new polls on Tuesday), with a record of 19-6, and 3-4 in games against Top 25 teams. James Madison is 6-1 at home. The Dukes are hitting .343 as a team and have two players (Sara Jubas - .517 & Kate Gordon - .410) batting over .400. Megan Good, who is back from missing most of 2018 with an injury, is tied with Gordon for the lead in home runs with 11 and Good is hitting .342 and slugging .849. JMU has 89 extra base hits with 45 doubles, one triple and 43 home runs. The team is slugging .603. In the circle, Good has the most innings at 68.2 and carries a 2.34 ERA, a 7-5 record and 71 strikeouts. Odicci Alexander sports the best ERA on the team at 1.47, is 10-0 this season and has 67 strikeouts in 66.2 innings. Payton Buresch has a 1.59 ERA, a 2-1 record and 22 innings pitched.

For all of the latest information on the Marshall Softball team, follow the Herd on Twitter @HerdSB, Facebook at Marshall University Softball and on www.herdzone.com.

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Softball on the Road at Longwood and No. 19 James Madison

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Players Mentioned

Armani Brown

Blakely Burch

Briana Daiss

Hayden Ellis

Hannah Giammarino

Aly Harrell

Sierra Huerta

Abigail Tolbert

Kailee Williamson

Marshall University Athletics